Obituary, Ingrid Haebler (1929-2023)

The Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper broke the news on Sunday that the Austrian pianist and early pioneer of period instrument performance Ingrid Haebler had died at the age of 93.

Born in Vienna but spending her childhood in Poland, Haebler’s talent at the piano showed itself early. The household saw frequent visits from major figures in the classical world - Claudio Arrau and Robert Casadesus, to name just two – with the latter noting her ability and predicting great things. History would decisively prove him correct.

At the outbreak of the Second World War the family moved to Salzburg; at the age of eleven Haebler made her performing debut not just with a piece of Mozart – the composer who would dominate her career and shape her legacy – but with a composition of her own. Sadly no record survives of this; perhaps a dual career in composing could have unfolded if things had turned out differently.

Following further study not just in Salzburg but in Vienna, Geneva and Paris, Haebler began to make her mark with a series of competition triumphs in the late 1940s and early 1950s; by 1954 she had scooped the top spot in the West German radio station ARD’s prestigious competition (then in only its third year, and still running today, with subsequent piano laureates including Myung-whun Chung, Alexandre Tharaud and Momo Kodama). This set her on the road to further fame, and acclaimed recordings soon followed.

In addition to her complete surveys of Mozart and Schubert piano sonatas, she also helped blaze the trail for the early music movement by recording Johann Christian Bach’s keyboard works on the newly-revived fortepiano with Eduard Melkus – helping to bring the idea of period performance into the classical mainstream. A fruitful and ongoing collaboration with violinist Henryk Szeryng gave rise to highly-regarded recordings of Mozart and Beethoven violin sonatas. She is regarded by many as a forerunner to the great Alfred Brendel, above all in Mozart. 

Ingrid Haebler - a selected discography